In a rare disclosure, Damascus confirmed that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met an Israeli delegation in Paris, with quiet American oversight and French logistical support. Reporter Rizik Alabi reveals [1] that the talks, kept out of the spotlight, dealt with some of the most sensitive flashpoints in the region: compliance with the 1974 cease-fire agreement, Israel’s presence in the Golan Heights, unrest in southern Syria, and cross-border smuggling.
The fact of the meeting itself is striking. Since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, official channels between Damascus and Tel Aviv have been sealed, while Israeli airstrikes inside Syria have continued regularly, targeting Iran and its allies. For Damascus to publicly acknowledge such a meeting signals both a tactical calculation and a message: it is not isolated, and it retains leverage in regional diplomacy.
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Alabi details that the Syrians sought to link the talks to domestic concerns, especially the unrest in As-Suwayda and the spread of drug trafficking. Analysts cited in the report offer sharply different interpretations. Some view the talks as a genuine, if fragile, diplomatic opening, while others see them as little more than theater—useful for Damascus to show activity and for Israel to burnish its image in Washington.
The timing is also telling. The discussions unfolded as Arab states move to reintegrate Syria into the diplomatic fold, and as the US looks to keep southern Syria from becoming another playground for Moscow and Tehran.
Whether these back-channel contacts evolve into anything lasting remains unclear. But as Alabi shows [1], the Paris encounter is more than a footnote: It is a glimpse of how even sworn enemies sometimes test the waters when the regional stakes grow too high.